When we left off last week in “Six of Crows” by Leigh Bardugo, things were just starting to get interesting.

Kaz Brekker, our main character, had been kidnapped and was convinced to take a job to rescue a man named Bo Yul-Bayer from an impenetrable, fortressed city for $30 million. 

We were also introduced to another one of our main characters, Inej. 

Inej, we have since learned, is a refugee from a foreign country in the midst of a war. We also learned that she spent a lot of time as a slave within a brothel.

Luckily Kaz found her and convinced his gang leader to purchase her freedom. In return, Inej was to provide her skills of stealth and combat to Kaz’s gang.

 As another fun development, we have been introduced to the rest of Kaz’s criminal crew who will be helping him rescue Bo Yul-Bayer.

First, we have Jesper the sharpshooter. He is a long-time friend of Kaz, and his skills with a gun made him the perfect choice to assist Kaz and the rest of his team with breaking into the Ice Court — the impenetrable city holding Bo Yul-Bayer hostage.

Next, we are introduced to Nina. Nina works in a brothel, much like Inej, however, she does not work in terms of pleasure. Nina is a heartrender, which is a form of magic the Grisha in this universe can possess.

Nina’s power as a heartrender gives her the ability to temporarily relieve emotional pain and to stop another person’s heart.

Kaz also made the decision to break a man named Matthias out of a tortuous jail for his knowledge of the Ice Court.

When Kaz, Inej, Nina and Jesper reach Matthias inside the prison, they find an extremely broken man. So broken, that he tries to kill Nina.

Nina and Matthias seem to have a really complex history together. Despite Nina’s love toward Matthias, Matthias hates her because of her power and his history of murdering Grisha.

However, I get the feeling that Nina and Matthias have a lot more history to be explored later on in the book. I am actually very excited to learn more about their history together because despite what we know so far, I am becoming very attached to Matthias’ character. 

Finally, the last member of the crew we meet is Wylan. Wylan is the son of the man who kidnapped Kaz, and Kaz is using him as collateral to make sure he receives his $30 million.

Wylan is also meant to be decent with explosives which could help them break into the Ice Court. As far as I can tell, though, I think he will be more of a hindrance to the crew than anything because he seems to be scared of everything the crew is about to do.

After we were introduced to all six of the crew members, Kaz informs them of his plan for them to sneak out of their city on his ship. But as they are meeting on the docks to board the boat, the ship explodes and they are ambushed by members from some of the other gangs in the city.

With gunfire raining down on Kaz’s crew, Kaz informs the rest of them that the ship that blew up was not their real ship, but a decoy he set up just in case something like this happened.

As they fight their way to the real ship, two of the crew members are injured. Jesper gets shot in the thigh, and Inej is stabbed in the side nearly piercing her heart — which is where I left off last. 

After everything I’ve learned so far this week reading “Six of Crows,” I am actually beginning to form a more negative opinion of Kaz. 

While I can tell he is a complex, morally grey character, I think he is unnecessarily vague with his crewmates, and he does not provide them with the information they deserve until the last second.

Hopefully, by the end of this book, Kaz will have developed into a more likable character for me. But, until then, join me next week to find out what happens next with the crew as they begin their journey toward the Ice Court.

Smith can be reached at [email protected].